This Christmas my heart melted as I watched my 9 year-old clutch her present from Santa to her chest. The American Girl Wellie Wishers doll was just what she wanted. And can you blame her? She is just so adorable!
Santa even brought a couple extra outfits for the doll. There was just one thing missing — shoes. My daughter is a shoe girl, and she was pretty sure the pretty pink dress needed sandals to go with it. The fashion emergency inspired some Christmas Day crafting, and these simple DIY doll sandals.
These DIY Wellie Wisher doll sandals are so easy to make that my 9 year-old was able to do it all on her own after I had the pattern made. The shoes fit a 14.5 inch (36.8 cm) doll, but you could easily follow the directions and enlarge the basic pattern to fit the larger (18 inch) dolls.
Materials Needed:
- 1/16 Inch Thick Craft Foam
- Hot Glue Gun
- Sandal Pattern
- Scissors
- Decorations (Mini craft foam shapes or craft gems look cute.)
Start by downloading and printing the free sandal pattern. (Find it here.) Cut out the pieces and trace them onto 1/16 inch thick craft foam. It is important to use the thicker craft foam, as most craft foam is too thin to make doll shoes that are going to hold up to playtime.
Carefully cut out the craft foam. Since my daughter was crafting with me, we used scissors for this project, but a small X-acto knife will make the rounded cuts more precise.
Once the material is cut, fold the strap over and crease it a bit. Then apply a small amount of hot glue to the free end of the strap and attach it to the inner portion of the shoe. (Hot glue can get very hot. Children should not use them unattended.)
After your doll’s sandal strap is secured in place, it’s time to choose a small decoration. My daughter picked pink craft foam flowers to glue on. For a little bling you could use pretty craft gems as well.
I certainly didn’t expect to be crafting before lunchtime this Christmas, but these super simple DIY doll sandals for Wellie Wishers helped avoid a fashion emergency and brought a smile to my daughter’s face. In fact, she started crafting all kinds of accessories for her new doll, and I enjoyed watching her creativity come alive.
You may also enjoy these previous posts:
- 15 Homemade Gifts Kids Will Love
- 2 Cat Toys Your Child Can Make
- How to Turn an Old Lunchbox into a Dollhouse
Barrie Bismark says
These are great! My middle daughter just got her first American Girl doll this Christmas.
#Alittlebitofeverything
OneMommy says
We have had a couple Target versions of the 18 inch dolls, but this was my daughter’s first real American Girl Doll. And she is loving it.
Julie says
That’s a really cute and simple idea. I love the fact your daughter was able to get involved. I remember loving making clothes and bags for my dolls, i never ventured into the shoe making arena though – very impressive!
OneMommy says
I remember making clothes for a few of my small dolls, using balloons of all things. 🙂 It was so much fun to craft this with my daughter.